Hi everyone. Hope all our friends and family are well. Those of you on the east coast we hope the dust has now settled – what a freaky think to happen.
Well we have now reached the west coast of Australia. We completed the Savannah Way (from Cairns to Broome) with a few sidetrips in just over 2 months. We are in Broome a bit earlier than we expected. We were so keen to make sure we got to the coast before the build up to the wet and the weather inland has been so hot we tended to move on quicker than we really needed to. We made a decision a little while ago not to do all of the Gibb River Road or go up to Mitchell Falls as we had heard the falls had pretty much dried up. We will come back another time earlier in the dry season to see the Falls and we’ll do the Gibb River Road at the same time.
The Kimberley region is quite spectacular and very different to what we have seen so far. I really admire the people who live here as its very harsh country in the dry and they call the build up to the wet season ‘mango madness’ as the humidity can make you crazy. The average maximum temps for the year tend to be around 35 degrees and there is no relief as it just gets hotter in the wet season.
We are now heading north again to the Dampier Peninsula for a few days before we start heading south down the WA coastline.
Here is the latest instalment of our travels.
12 to 14 September (day 177 to 179)
El Questro Wilderness Park, Western Australia
El Questro is a one million acre property near the eastern end of the Gibb River Road. The drive in was fairly bone rattling due to the corrugations created by lots of traffic (it is a very popular tourist attraction). Its accessible by 4WD only as there are a number of creek crossings to negotiate on the way in and on the property. The property still operates as a cattle station but also has a campground and accommodation so that tourists can visit a number of natural attractions in the park. You could spend days walking the numerous gorges and driving the 4WD tracks on offer. They also offer lots of guided tours that were quite expensive so we opted to do our own thing.
Its like an oasis in the middle of dry, rocky and dusty country as the campground is grassed and has lots of trees and there is a nice bar as well as restaurant. When we arrived I was very excited by the Bondi beach style huts that had a shower, basin and toilet. While we shared these with other campers it was a luxury to have a self contained bathroom rather than showering in a cubicle. There were two camping options: the first is in a large campground close to the bathrooms and bar and the other is in one of the private campsites spread along 12km of the Pentecost River (some have pit toilets and others have no facilities). My excitement about the bathrooms made the choice easy and we stayed in the large campground. The campground turned out to be very nice especially as we woke up to cows and horses wandering around. Here is a photo of the campground and one of the cows:
We did a number of walks and 4WDs. On the first day we walked up El Questro Gorge to a small swimming hole where the water was crystal clear. The photos below show the walk in and the small swimming pool.
As we were there on a Saturday we were able to enjoy the entertainment at the bar. They had a young bloke singing and playing the guitar and banjo. He played lots of Beatles and Johnny Cash songs and was really good. His ‘supporting act’ was an old stockman who did tricks with a whip. There would have been at least 60 people there so the atmosphere was really good and we had a great time.
The next day we walked Emma Gorge which led to a waterfall and plunge pool surrounded by 65m sheer cliffs. The water was icy cold as it is in the shade for almost all of the day. On one side of the pool water trickles through the rocks from a thermal spring creating a small pocket of really warm water. Here are a couple of photos.
On the return walk through Emma Gorge we saw a lovely Merton’s Water Monitor sunning him/herself on a rock:
We did a quick trip to Zebedee Springs which is a series of small thermal pools. The water felt like lukewarm bath water. As it was such a hot day we didn’t stay in them very long. At Zebedee Springs Michael did his second good Samaritan act of the day. A young Italian couple in a rental 4WD had a flat tyre and didn’t know how to change it so Michael did the good deed. Earlier in the day he had jump started one of our neighbours who had drained their battery running their fridge overnight. (The heat has meant that we are using the power in our battery in the camper much quicker than we have in the past as the poor Engel fridge is working very hard).
In the afternoon we did a fairly long 4WD through Explosion Gorge (partly so we could enjoy the aircon in the car). It took us most of the afternoon to do the 20km return trip with stops along the way. The main highlights were Branco’s lookout with views over the Chamberlain Gorge and River and the Cockburn Range and the drive down a very rocky track to the river. Here is a photo of the view from the lookout:
And one of Michael fishing in the Chamberlain River at Exposion Gorge (didn’t catch anything – but good practice)
These are photos of the rocky track down to the river:
14 to 17 September (day 179 to 182)
Kurrajong Campground, Purnululu National Park (aka The Bungle Bungles) via Warnum (1 night), Western Australia
After leaving El Questro we headed back down the Great Northern Highway towards The Bungle Bungles. As the final leg of the trip into the Bungles Bungles takes 2 to 3 hours we decided to stop along the way at the Warnum (Turkey Creek) Roadhouse. It had a basic campground with a swimming pool but was very clean and tidy. We were joined by a large group of cows and horses here too that belonged to the station surrounding the roadhouse.
The final leg of the trip into The Bungle Bungles is only 52km but the track is shocking. We did good time and got to the visitor centre in about 1.5 hours. There are two national park campgrounds (both only have pit toilets) and one that is privately run by tour operators. We stayed at the Kurrajong Campground in the northern section of the park. As we arrived early we got the pick of the campsites under a few lovely shade trees with views to the Bungle Bungles (although that night I discovered that the nearby pit toilet was very smelly when the breeze was in our direction).
While we were there we did all of the walks except for the overnight walk through Picanninny Gorge. All up it was about 12kms – not much over 2 days really but it was very, very hot. One walker we met just before 10am had a temperature gauge and it was 41.5°c.
As well as the famous ‘beehive’ towers the range is made up of fantastic gorges and rock features. In the northern section of the park we walked the Echidna Chasm which becomes very narrow and then just ends with a little curved wall at the end.
Towards the end large round rocks have fallen and are stuck between the walls above your head (it reminded of the Raiders of the Lost Ark ride at Movie World).
We also did the Mini Palms Walk which was quite hard as you had to squeeze between large rocks and climb up boulders etc. At the end you come to a viewing platform where you look down into the floor of the gorge where a few small palms grow.
The southern end of the park is where the famous dome shaped rocks are. The views are fabulous as you drive to the entrance to the walks.
We did a short walk around the domes and then into Cathedral Gorge. The new Qantas advertisement includes scenes of the choir singing at the domes and in Cathedral Gorge. At the end of Cathedral Gorge there is a large shallow cave and a small permanent pool of water. Here is Michael sitting in the Cathedral: 
This is the view looking back from the Cathedral:
As we got to the end a female walker was singing and it was clear that the acoustics are fabulous.
We also walked along Picanninny Creek to a lookout with a lovely view of the range.
Purnululu/The Bungle Bungles is definitely a must-see, but possibly a little earlier in the dry season as it was very hot. We would love to see it from the air (which you can do in a helicopter or plane) – perhaps next time.
17 to 19 September (day 182 to 184)
Halls Creek Caravan Park, Halls Creek, Western Australia
Despite many travellers telling us not to stop at Halls Creek we made the decision to, so that we could go out to see the Wolfe Creek Crater which is about 150kms south on the Tanami Road.
After what we had been told we were surprised to find a small, but neat and tidy town. It looks like it has recently had a make-over as all of the houses had fairly new fences, looked recently painted and had new solar hot water systems on the roof. The caravan park was very basic but it was clean and had a clean pool.
Wolfe Creek Crater is the second largest meteorite crater where meteorite fragments have been found, in the world. It has a diameter of 850m and while it is only about 20m deep now it was 120m deep when the meteorite slammed into earth 300,000 years ago. The bottom of the crater is flat and is covered with small trees – it looks a bit like an oasis as the surrounding country is very sparse and dry. Its impossible to get a photo from the ground that shows how big it is.
You can camp at the crater but we were reluctant to travel on the Tanami Road with the camper on (which ended up being a good decision as the road is in very bad condition in sections) and while I haven’t seen the movie Wolfe Creek I have heard enough not to want to camp there.
While it was a long way to go to see it, it was very spectacular and worth the drive.
19 to 21 September (day 184 to 186)
Fitzroy River Lodge Caravan Park, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia
After leaving Halls Creek we continued about 290km along the Great Northern Highway to Fitzroy Crossing. Our neighbours at Kununurra had suggested we stay at the Fitzroy River Lodge (there are 2 other caravan parks) and it is great. Again its like a little oasis in the middle of nowhere – its grassy and has a lovely pool and bar. As the name suggests it is right on the banks of the Fitzroy River but there is little water in it at the moment and it is just a large sandbar.
We stopped here to visit Geike Gorge National Park which is only 30km out of town. The Gorge is part of the Devonian Reef which was formed as the named suggests underwater (in a similar way to the Great Barrier Reef) about 300 million years ago. We did a boat trip run by the WA Department of Environment and Conservation. The Gorge is quite different to others we have seen as it is limestone while all of the others we have seen are formed with sandstone. While it is not as tall or long as other gorges we have seen I think the rock formations were the most interesting and beautiful we have seen. The tour guide was one of the local indigenous people and was really informative and entertaining. 
This photo is of a rock formation that looks like Richard Nixon:
Apart from the Gorge there isn’t much else to see so the rest of time has been spent relaxing and trying to stay cool in the pool.
Fitzroy Crossing looks like a town in transition. There is a very modern visitor information centre and like Halls Creek many of the houses look like they have recently had a makeover. On the other hand the little shopping centre (a small strip of shops in a corrugated iron shed) was burnt down in July. A temporary supermarket has been set-up in the recreation centre (another nice new building) until a new supermarket is built next year. A sign up at the temporary supermarket tells the story of the shop ute being stolen last week and asks for its return. It feels like a town trying to move ahead, but may have some challenges for awhile.
21 to 22 September (day 186 to 187)
Windjana Gorge National Park Campground, WA
After leaving Fitzroy Crossing we turned up the unsealed and fairly rough Fairfield-Leopold Range Road heading towards Windjana Gorge and the Gibb River Road. As we got closer we were able to see the Napier Range which is also part of the Devonian Reef. We stopped at a very small National Park called Tunnel Creek where a creek runs for 750m through and under the Napier Range from one side to the other. We intended to walk Tunnel Creek and arrived at the entrance with our crocs on (as we knew we would get wet feet) and our most powerful torch. At the entrance we were greeted by a fairly narrow entrance and lots of large and very slippery rocks to clamour over. As I tend to get a bit claustrophobic in small dark spaces and it looked pretty hairy we decided not to go in. I’m glad we did as we saw a Black Whip Snake just outside the entrance and I’ve had enough encounters with snakes for awhile.
Apart from being a geological feature Tunnel Creek is famous as the hideout of a local Aborigine called Jandamarra who wavered between being a stockman and tracker (working for the white people) and activist who killed stock in protest against the whites taking his people’s land. He shot and killed a policeman in order to free some of his people. He used the tunnel as a hideout for approx 3 years until he was eventually found and killled near the entrance to the tunnel.
Further along the road we stopped at the ruins of the 1880’s police station where Jandamarra shot the policeman who was guarding prisoners.
We intended to stay at Windjana Gorge for 2 nights but when we got there we discovered that there was just one 7km walk. We decided to do the walk that afternoon so that we could continue on the next day as the campground was very hot and dry, although we did have a great view of the outside of the gorge.
By this stage we were feeling all ‘gorged out’ and were struggling with the heat of the day as well as night so we decided to head for the coast.
22 to 26 September (day 187 to 191)
Cable Beach Caravan Park, Broome, WA
When we left Windjana Gorge we headed for Derby. We weren’t sure whether we would stay very long as the main attraction in Derby is that it is a base for flying out to the Horizontal Falls and the Buccaneer Archipelago. While it would have been terrific to do the flyover we had decided not to as it is pretty costly. We will do it when we come back at another time to see the Mitchell Falls (when they are running).
Derby’s other claim to fame is the huge 12m tidal variations. A vast area around the town is tidal plains (salty-mud flats). We had a look around the town and the wharf and decided to continue on to Broome.
Fortunately most of the tourists have recently left Broome so we were able to get a spot at the caravan park at Cable Beach. The population of Broome is about 15000 but it swells to about 70000 in the tourist season and apparently you can’t move its so packed. Consequently the caravan park is very expensive.
Cable Beach is really lovely. Our first view of it was at low tide when the sea was about 100metres down the beach. The water is a lovely aqua blue colour.
We have had a couple of walks along the beach and drove to one end of the beach for sunset.
We spent a day exploring the Northern Coastal Track which goes for about 45km along the coastline stopping at various points along the way. One place we stopped called Flat Rock was just gorgeous. It’s a large rocky area that you can drive and camp on. On either side are deep red cliffs coming down to the white sand and bright blue ocean. We spent a couple of hours fishing off the rocks. I caught something big that broke my line and got away.
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